OFFICIAL | Visma confirm Jonas Vingegaard for the Giro d’Italia and full 2026 plans of Van Aert, Jorgenson and more

Team Visma | Lease a Bike has set out its sporting plans for the 2026 season in direct terms, a campaign the team itself defines as strategic, ambitious, and carefully built around its marquee leaders. The project keeps a clear structure: dominance in the Grand Tours, prominence in the calendar’s biggest classics, and continuity in talent development across both men’s and women’s squads. Jonas Vingegaard will once again be the central figure, with Wout van Aert and Matteo Jorgenson as his most important lieutenants.

The main focus of the men’s project once again falls on Jonas Vingegaard, who will tackle a 2026 campaign unlike any he has done before. After winning the Vuelta a Espana and taking second at the Tour de France, the Dane has made a pivotal choice: to debut at the Giro d’Italia with the aim of completing a unique Grand Tour trilogy.

“Of course that played a role in my decision,” Vingegaard explains. “I have already won in France and Spain. Now I want to do the same in Italy.”

At 29, Vingegaard acknowledges that last season was solid, if not perfect: “It was a good year, but not exceptional”, he says candidly. “I have already won the Tour twice. For me, a truly successful season still depends on winning the Tour. Celebrating another victory in Paris is something I continue to dream about.”

His calendar opens at the UAE Tour, continues at Volta a Catalunya, and sets the Giro d’Italia as the first major target, before the summer’s big challenge: the Tour de France, which in 2026 will start with a team time trial in Barcelona.

“I have been thinking about riding the Giro for a while now”, Vingegaard tells. “It’s one of the biggest races on the calendar, and it’s also one I have never done before. I really want to experience it, and now feels like the perfect moment. Winning the Vuelta last fall only gives me more motivation to go all-in for victory in Italy as well. I would love to add the pink jersey to my collection."

“Over the past five years, my build-up to the Tour has been largely the same. This time we have chosen something new. The organization has designed a great course for the Giro. Perhaps not as demanding as in recent years, which makes combining the Giro and the Tour a favourable option for us.”

On the Grande Boucle, Vingegaard is clear: “Winning it for a third time would be incredible. Of course it will be difficult, though it may be more exciting than the past two editions”, the Dane says, referring to the course. “That’s different from recent years. The time gaps might be smaller as a result. Still, we will need to be sharp right away for the team time trial in Barcelona. That’s a discipline we invest a lot of time in as a team, and it will be a special way to start the race.”

The team’s other major pillar is Wout van Aert, who heads into his eighth season in yellow and black. The Belgian will again be one of the peloton’s most versatile and visible riders.

“In the spring, I want to be there from Omloop Het Nieuwsblad all the way through to Roubaix. I want to show myself everywhere and seize every opportunity that comes my way,” says Van Aert.

In 2026 he returns to two races that most motivate him: Strade Bianche and Milano–Sanremo. “After my victory in Siena during last year's Giro d’Italia, I realised that Strade Bianche, despite the changes to the course, still suits my qualities very well. I consider Strade Bianche and Milan–San Remo to be among the most beautiful races of the season, so I definitely don’t want to miss them in 2026.”

The Monuments — Tour of Flanders, Paris–Roubaix, and Milano–Sanremo — remain priority objectives, but the summer will also be crucial. Van Aert is targeting the Tour de France, where he sees clear chances for stage wins, and then the Vuelta a España.

“I still have unfinished business in the Vuelta,” Van Aert grins. “It was a painful exit in 2024, but I’ll return with a lot of motivation. As a team, we can certainly achieve something special there. In addition, the World Championships in Canada have been on my mind for a long time. I see the Vuelta as an ideal preparation to be at my best level there.”

More than anything though, Van Aert just wants a season without disruption. “Winning a monument in 2026 would be the icing on the cake of my career, but above all I hope to be able to race a consistent season. The past few years have had their ups and downs, so my biggest dream is simply a carefree season. If that happens, the results will follow naturally,” he concludes.

Matteo Jorgenson heads into 2026 with renewed ambitions and a fine-tuned calendar to take another step forward within Team Visma | Lease a Bike. At 26, the American has established himself as a key rider in both the classics and Grand Tours during his first two seasons with the team, and now seeks fresh stimuli. “I’ve got a lot of energy to start the new season,” Jorgenson begins. “Together with the team, I’ve adjusted my calendar slightly compared to my first two seasons here. I’ve set new goals for myself, and the team fully supports me in that.”

The big change comes in spring, with a clear shift towards the Ardennes classics, where Liège–Bastogne–Liège stands out as one of his major targets: Ideally, I’d like to ride all the spring classics, but if you really want to perform well in the Ardennes, you have to make choices. One of my main goals in the spring is Liège–Bastogne–Liège, a race I’m hugely excited about. I feel that this type of race, with longer climbs, suits me better. I’m setting the bar high, and that makes it a great challenge.”

Jorgenson will even skip Paris–Nice, a race he had won in the last two editions, to focus on the Italian block — Strade Bianche, Tirreno–Adriatico, and Milano–Sanremo — before turning to the Tour de France, his main goal of the year. “The Tour is always the highlight of my season," he says, aiming to arrive in peak form both to seek his own result and to support Jonas Vingegaard, after passing through the Tour de Suisse with freedom to fight for the overall.

Alongside him, the team will keep promoting rising profiles such as Matthew Brennan, Davide Piganzoli, and Louis Barré, three riders who embody the project’s immediate future. Brennan will continue to grow on the classics terrain and in Grand Tours, with a schedule that blends top-tier one-day races and his first full experience in a three-week race, a key step in his development.

Piganzoli, for his part, will keep gaining prominence in stage races and high-mountain scenarios, with the Giro d’Italia as one of the major targets of his season, supported by a structure he himself describes as “very well organised and with top-tier equipment.”

As for Barré, his role will be closely tied to working for the leaders at the Ardennes classics and at prestigious appointments such as Il Lombardia, a role he embraces with enthusiasm. Working for riders like Wout van Aert and Jonas Vingegaard is part of his growth within a team that, in 2026, blends immediate ambition with a clear bet on emerging talent.

The women’s block of Team Visma | Lease a Bike stays firmly on a path of continuity and growth, with Pauline Ferrand-Prévot and Marianne Vos as absolute references.

Ferrand-Prévot faces her second year with the team, targeting major classics and the most important stage races, while Vos will remain a cornerstone in the Monuments and the marquee fixtures on the women’s calendar.